Tecos top namesakes; add former All-Star OF Brown, C Apodaca

By Zach Davis, Laredo Morning Times

Updated
2:32 am CDT, Friday, June 29, 2018

Shortstop Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run for the Tecolotes Dos Laredos as part of a 7-3 victory during an exhibition game against the Tecos de Nuevo Laredo from the Northern League of Coahuila Thursday night at Uni-Trade Stadium. less

Shortstop Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run for the Tecolotes Dos Laredos as part of a 7-3 victory during an exhibition game against the Tecos de Nuevo Laredo from the Northern League of Coahuila Thursday ... more

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

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Shortstop Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run for the Tecolotes Dos Laredos as part of a 7-3 victory during an exhibition game against the Tecos de Nuevo Laredo from the Northern League of Coahuila Thursday night at Uni-Trade Stadium. less

Shortstop Josh Rodriguez hit a solo home run for the Tecolotes Dos Laredos as part of a 7-3 victory during an exhibition game against the Tecos de Nuevo Laredo from the Northern League of Coahuila Thursday ... more

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

Tecos top namesakes; add former All-Star OF Brown, C Apodaca

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The Tecolotes Dos Laredos announced an exhibition Thursday afternoon for later that same night as they looked to get some work in before next week’s start of the second Mexican Baseball League season.

Squaring off against their namesakes from across the border, the Tecolotes Dos Laredos took on the Tecos de Nuevo Laredo out of the Northern League of Coahuila. And after a slow start, the host Tecolotes took control down the stretch for a 7-3 victory at Uni-Trade Stadium.

“The team around us is different than what we showed during the first season,” said Tecolotes manager Felix Fermin, who also said after the game that the team will have another exhibition game Friday at 6 p.m. at Uni-Trade. “We have a lot of different faces that can do the job and a lot of guys with a lot of experience in the league. We have a lot of players that know how to win games.”

With the Tecolotes taking the field, the team debuted a pair of new players, and one in particular looks to be a significant signing for the upcoming LMB campaign. The Tecolotes featured a lineup including outfielder Dominic Brown and catcher Juan Apodaca in the No. 4-5 spots competing for the first time for the franchise.

Brown is a major signing for the Tecolotes. The 30 year old from Zephyrhills, Florida played six different seasons in the Major Leagues for the Phillies as he sported a lifetime .246 average against MLB pitchers in 1,748 plate appearances. He was a National League All-Star in 2013 as he batted .272 with 27 home runs, 65 runs and 83 RBIs that season.

Brown spent 10 years in the Phillies organization after being drafted in the 20th round in 2006. He was then with the Blue Jays and Rockies’ minor leagues the next two seasons before playing for Monterrey during the LMB’s first season of 2018, where he struggled a bit hitting only .211 with seven homers, 14 runs and 17 RBIs in 109 at-bats.

“We hope he can do better from hitting behind (Balbino) Fuenmayor,” Fermin said. “We will be three deep with (Matt) Clark, Fuenmayor and Brown hitting No. 3-5. We are deep there. Brown is going to find new life here in Laredo. It’s exciting to bring in some new players that I hope will put the team on the right path.”

Meanwhile, Apodaca has never seen time in the Major Leagues, but the 31 year old from Caracas, Venezuela spent his first nine professional years with MLB organizations in the minors including the Dodgers (2005-07), Red Sox (2008-10), Indians (2010-11), Cubs (2012) and Rays (2013) as he reached as high as Triple-A.

Apodaca has been in the LMB the past three seasons with Tijuana. During the league’s first season of 2018, he hit .259 with nine homers, 18 runs and 30 RBIs for the Toros.

“He’s a good kid for us,” Fermin said. “He’s going to be a catcher that has experience. He played the last three years with Tijuana and they’ve made the playoffs. He knows what it takes to win games.”

In their debuts, Brown and Apocada were each 1-for-3 while the latter also had an RBI.

Overall, the Tecolotes held an 8-5 edge in hits. Shortstop Josh Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double. Second baseman Ulises Villa finished 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs out of the No. 9 spot while center fielder Johnny Davis was 1-for-4 with an RBI triple and a stolen base leading off the order.

First baseman Matt Clark and right fielder Carlos Lopez were both 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Outfielder Enrique Osorio — who plays in Saturday’s LMB All-Star Game in Yucatan — as well as Fuenmayor did not see action Thursday night.

Meanwhile, third baseman JC Thompson was 1-for-3 with two runs, but he struggled mightily in the field with three errors himself as well as a couple other close calls that nearly added to that number. The team had four total miscues including Rodriguez’s error in the first letting the game’s leadoff hitter on board as part of a three-run Nuevo Laredo inning.

Those infield struggles had Fermin very concerned after the game as he is pondering what to do with his infield. Juan Martinez (.261, 3 HR, 24 R, 17 RBI) will be coming back soon from a groin injury, but it looks like newly acquired infielder Amadeo Zazueta (.356, 5 HR, 46 R, 34 RBI) may not be coming for a while this season if at all after his wife recently gave birth. The team is holding out hope he will join them after they traded one of the top pitchers in the LMB in Jose Pina for both Zazueta and Clark during the offseason.

“We have other people, but we have to figure out how we are going to do it,” said Fermin of his infield woes. “Josh can play third, Martinez can play second — we will see how he plays tomorrow after having some (injury) problems with his groin. (Defense) is the only concern.”

While the Tecolotes were clearly in more of a scrimmage-type atmosphere Thursday night playing in warmup shirts without uniform numbers and with the team not operating the scoreboard, they were still going head to head with a hungry Nuevo Laredo squad that wanted to prove themselves. And they had their hands full early.

Evan MacLane took the mound for the second preseason game in Laredo after throwing three scoreless innings against Saltillo last Sunday. But he didn’t have nearly the same success this time around as the Tecos from Nuevo Laredo popped him for three runs (two earned) on four hits during the first inning alone.

“He should’ve been out of the (first) inning in three or four batters,” Fermin said. “The first one was to short and Josh makes an error. The next one just goes between short and third. I’m not concerned about it. I know what MacLane can do.”

MacLane (3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, SO) settled down from there. Despite an error early in the second, he still set down the side in order thanks to an inning-ending double play, and he worked another quick frame in the third to finish off his night.

Meanwhile, despite the early deficit, the Tecolotes rallied back to give MacLane the lead before he left the game.

After a scoreless first, the Tecolotes loaded the bases with one out after walks to Lopez and Norberto Susini (0-2, 2 BB) and a hit by Thompson — the latter proving to be scary as it struck the Nuevo Laredo pitcher in the back of the neck as he had to leave the game. And with the bases juiced, Villa nearly grounded into a double play but beat out the throw at first. That proved to be huge as not only did Lopez score but Thompson did as well all the way from second to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Tecolotes then jumped out in front during the third. Rodriguez kicked things off with a solo home run to tie it up at 3. After an ensuing walk to Clark, he scored two batters later on a single by Apodaca to left for the Tecolotes’ first lead at 4-3.

Outfielder Johnny Davis showcased how fast he is for the first time in a Tecolotes uniform in the fourth. After Villa singled, Davis hit a ball in the right-center gap and stormed around the bases easily trotting to third for an RBI triple and a 5-3 edge. It was Davis’ first hit of the preseason after going 0-for-3 in his team debut against Saltillo.

From there, the Tecolotes mass subbed as their first six hitters were replaced. The offense added a run in the sixth off an error scoring Davis, and another Tecolote player drove in an RBI in the seventh bringing home Thompson. The Tecolotes never announced who any of their replacements were, and since they weren’t wearing uniforms, the team’s substitutes went unidentified.

After MacLane left in the third, the Tecolotes bullpen showcased what it could do as five different hurlers combined to allow only one hit and no walks during the last six innings. Vicente Campos pitched the fourth and fifth before Nieve tossed the sixth. Gerardo Sanchez punched out two during his scoreless seventh before Chris Rocha completed the eighth.

Pena, however, got in some danger in the ninth as Nuevo Laredo loaded the bases with no outs and got the tying runner to home plate. A hit, walk and a third error by Thompson started things before a key, but sloppy, double play. It saw a grounder go to Thompson who tagged third and threw home, but the substitute catcher tagged home plate instead of the runner and looked to throw it to first. With the force play off, he fortunately realized his error at the same time the runner realized his own as well as he began to walk off the field. The catcher managed to tag him out as the runner tried a second attempt to go for home plate. The game ended as Thompson bobbled a grounder but was able to recover for the final out.

“We have a problem with defense,” Fermin said. “We played shaky defense, and we have got three more days to figure out what we are going to do in the infield. We know we have good offense with Clark, Davis and Brown and Apocada now. We have good pitching, so we have to figure out how the defense can get better.”

After finishing in last place in the LMB at 18-39 during the first league season, the Tecolotes kick off the second campaign on July 3 in Monclova as they will play two road series to start the year. The exception will be the July 4 holiday as the Tecos will get to host the Acereros that day at Uni-Trade Stadium.